A CASE FOR MASTER'S COURSE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Abstract

In the present scenario, most universities in India have a two year post-graduate course in English Literature. A graduate from any faculty - Arts, Science or Commerce - can apply for this   two year course in English Literature. After two years, the candidates who clear the Examination get the Post-graduate Degree in English Literature. Obviously, most of them get II and III division and become school teachers. Thus with just two years of exposure to the English Language from 14th Century to 20th-21st Century, the ‘teacher’ ‘teaches’ for at least 30 years and the ‘teacher’ task is to teach the students Current English so that they can pursue Higher Studies in English and communicate in English to compete in various interviews and competitive examinations.

Despite this, bright students and professionals, particularly from films and Cricket, develop a certain level of language proficiency that enables them to cope with International demands. The credit for this goes to their own efforts outside the regular curriculum and they are clearly many notches above the language proficiency level of average teachers of English in schools, colleges and universities.

To get rid of this irony, we need to change our mind-set and existing set-up.